Eliza's Escape
by AlessNox
Summary: The teen-aged daughter of Mycroft Holmes has a cunning plan to meet her favorite band, but the best laid plans of mice and teens gang oft aglay. This was a bit of fun that I've been thinking about for a long time. A Maddy story of sorts. Please be kind.
1. Chapter 1

_The year is 2027 and little Eliza, daughter of Maddy and Mycroft Holmes is attending an exclusive girls only prep school. _

Maddy adjusted the collar on Eliza's school uniform before grabbing her shoulders and giving her a hug. "Now your father and I will be out of the country, but we will only be a phone call away. If it's important, don't forget to call. Are you sure that you will be fine remaining at school for the break? We could drop you off at your grandmother's."

"No Mummy I'm fine. I have some studying to do anyway, and a project in biology."

"Good. Now keep warm, and remember what your father said. _'Be aware of your environment and keep your head in a crisis_'. "

"What possible crisis could I have at school?"

"I don't know. That's why I mentioned it. Oh my sweet baby, I'm gonna miss you."

"Mummy, I'm not a baby. I'm almost fifteen!"

"But you aren't fifteen yet, so mind your elders and try not to burn down the school like your uncle Sherlock did."

"He didn't burn down the entire school Mummy, just the lab."

"Well, you don't burn anything. I know that you want to show everyone that you can be ... colorful like he is, but I want you to know that there is nothing wrong with being a nice, normal girl."

Eliza spit out a laugh.

"Eliza?" Maddy said giving her a stern look.

Eliza smirked. "Daddy says that none of us is ordinary, and Uncle John called me a genius, so how can I be a nice, normal girl?"

"Well I think that the meaning of '_nice_' should be obvious, but if you don't know the definition, look it up. As for the rest, well... try to be a nice, normal genius then. When we get back, we'll take you home for the weekend before the new term starts. Are you sure you'll be okay?"

"Mummy, you're being suffocating."

"Alright, alright," she said leaning over to kiss the girl on the top of her head. "Bye, bye love." Maddy wrapped her fur stole around her, and after one long look, she left the room.

Eliza walked over to the window and peered out waiting until she saw her mother get into a long black car. She waved once and stayed at the window until the car left through the gate. Then she clipped on an earpiece and turned on her computer.

"Alright girls, Eli here. _'Operation Escape'_ is on!"

"Eli, are you sure that this is a good idea? The way that you describe that place it sounds like The Tower itself. You're not actually the prime minister's daughter, are you?" Theresa said.

"I told you, my dad's a minor government official. Basically they're worried someone will blackmail him into leaking information or helping someone break into the Bank of England, but as to name, my dad's nobody famous."

"But your uncle is. Isn't your uncle Sherlock Holmes?" Maria asked.

"Yeah, and that's why it is imperative that we leave no traces to follow. If my parents get a whiff that I am not where I am supposed to me, then they will come after us with the full force of Scotland Yard, so no one must know."

"Are you sure we can do it?"

"Now Rece, Who got us the tickets in the first place?"

"You did but..."

"Who figured out how to get Maria access to a car even though her parents threatened to take away her transportation pass?"

"You did but..."

"Am I or am I not a genius, Theresa?"

"You are, but..."

"Then don't worry! What could possibly go wrong?"

"Oh no!" Maria cried. "Why'd you have to say that. You know that means that it has to go wrong now."

"Superstition is the opiate of the ignorant, Maria. We have no time for it. Logic is what will get us to that concert, not luck. How often do _The Infidels_ come to London? It's a once in a lifetime opportunity, and it would truly be a crime if we wasted the backstage passes that Theresa won. Those are priceless! Do you know how much they'd cost on the black net?"

"What's the black net?" Theresa asked.

"Oh you innocents."

"Who are you calling innocent, Miss Ivory Tower?" Maria countered. "Have you ever stepped out of that exclusive school without a body guard?"

"God yes, and it was horrid! My mother makes me work in a kitchen for the homeless twice a year. It's SO depressing. Would you like me to give you The Lecture about privilege? I've got it memorized by now. '_When I was just a bit older than you are now, I was homeless, and so you should never, ever look down on people simply because of their economic circumstances._' They always expect me to be perfectly tactful. and perfectly brilliant, and perfectly perfect. Sometimes, I just want to scream!"

"God Eli! did you have to do that over an open channel? I have eardrums you know."

"Sorry, Rese, so let's restate the plan?"

"Okay, I go to the White Owl Hotel reservation's site at ten thirty AM Thursday and reserve for the weekend the Grand Suite which is not really that grand and so usually goes unrented. I get my brother to get the keys for us for the cost of three packs of beer and not being at home at all for the weekend.

My Mum has already given me permission to go to the concert, but she will be up in Scotland getting drunk with her sister who has decided to go on a singles tour of the castles of Scotland in the hopes of finding some hunky guy in a kilt to..."

"Can we skip the extended monologues? I do need to pack. Next."

"Next, I will go to the suite and prepare for the three of us with my entire collection of bootleg Infidel vids, fizzy drinks, and snacks. You next M."

"So my parents have let me go to London to visit the design college there. Thanks for official looking invite, Eli. I will take the car and go to the college so that the register will show on the car log. Then I'll pick up some brochures. Snap a few selfies and go to the hotel. Now you."

"I have the note that says that I am to stay the weekend with my grandmother. I snatched an old one out of the files and changed the date. They won't question it. Best you don't know too many more of the details of my cunning plan. This isn't a completely secure channel despite the encription. Needless, I will come Friday. We stay overnight and program the car to drive us to the stadium on Saturday. And then we are off to see the Infidels!"

"But what if we get caught?"

"Rese, we have to try. Meeting the Infidels will be the crowning experience of our lives! Do you realize that in less than a week we will be meeting Guy, Gamon, Sathesh, and Tymon in person!"

"Ahhhhh! Tymon!"

Eliza pulled the earpiece away from her ear. "Didn't you just complain about screaming into earpieces?"

"I can't help but Squee, Eli. We're going to be meeting Tymon! He is so! Lovely! Do you think he'll let me have his shirt like he did for that girl in China?"

"Calm down, Teresa," Maria said. "We will have plenty of time to squee on Friday night. Well, I'm going to have to go now. The parents are home. Off out!"

"Off out, M!"

"Me too Eli. Mum's going to the store, and I need to slip the beer in the trolley while she's not looking."

"Won't she notice?"

"Nah. The checker is _way_ fit. She never even looks at food. Off out."

"Off out, Ter. I'll message you first thing tomorrow morning."

"Right."

"Bye."

Eliza pulled off the earpiece and tossed it down on her desk before jumping onto her bed. She looked up at the ceiling where her poster of the Infidels stared down at her. They were so talented, so handsome, and so amazing! And very soon she would meet them in person. She closed her eyes, but she was too excited. She would listen to her favorite playlist twice before she would finally get to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

It was unusually warm and sunny Spring day and so Eliza sat on a bench in the front lawn of the school reading a book. She wasn't actually reading it though. She had memorized Albert Einstein's _'Feldgleichungen der Gravitation'_ when she was ten. What she was actually doing was watching the gate. It was almost 10:45am when she finally saw the head mistresses car leave the school grounds.

The head mistress, Miss June, was an unusually intelligent and observant woman. That was probably the reason that her father had enrolled her in this school instead of one closer to home. Eliza did not think that her plan would work as long as Mrs June was still on the grounds. Luckily, her assistant Madam Pinkerton was not so blessed when it came to smarts.

Eliza closed her book and walked up to her room sending a signal on her phone as soon as she was safely in the stairwell. As she entered her room, she put on her coat and picked up her bag. She looked out of the window just as a white car pulled up to the gate. A moment later, her intercom buzzed.

"Yes?" Eliza said.

"Miss Holmes, your grandmother has sent a car for you. You need to come down to the office and sign out. You do have a permission slip don't you?"

"Yes. Madam Pinkerton."

"Good, well be sure to bring it with you."

"I will, Madam Pinkerton," she said politely before closing the connection with a smile.

Fifteen minutes later, she popped the earpiece into her ear and unrolled her phone screen as the hired car drove her out of the gate.

"Hello musketeers! Eli is finally on the way. Madam Pinkerton didn't even question the note. She is so thick!"

"Eli, my Mum says that those automatic taxis record every thing you say. If someone has an agent listening in..."

"My dear Rece, I was not born yesterday. I have a device that creates a low level vibration that totally screws up listening devices. One of my Dad's employees showed me one once, so I took a module in electronics so that I could get hold of enough equipment to make my own. It's a bit bigger than the commercial model, but it works just as well. I call it my muffliato chip.

"Oh that's hilarious, Eli," Maria said. "Something to put in your tool chest as you begin your life of crime."

"What do you mean begin? I've been defying the rules ever since I was five and uncle Sherlock taught me how to pick locks in order to annoy Dad. God I wish this car would drive faster. No wonder my Dad hires a human driver. This one is stopping a full ten seconds at every corner! Annoying! I think I may be able to modify its programming to make it move faster though."

"Have a little patience," Maria said. "The last thing we need is to get caught by doing something stupid."

"You're right M. You were always the calm one. How's the hotel doing, Rece?"

"Reservation made and confirmed. They have checkout at eleven so I thought I'd wait till afternoon to try to check in. Besides my brother is still sleeping. My Mum kited off at nine."

"Snacks?"

"Already packed, and my brother's beer is on the table. Check, check, check!"

"What's the third check for?"

"For luck!"

"Whatever, anyway ... Maria, where are you now?"

"At the design college. It's actually pretty neat. Oh I see a girl with purple hair! Maybe she'll take a picture with me. Off out."

"Off out!" Theresa and Eli said together. There was a click on the line and Maria's icon disappeared.

"Still there, Rece?"

"Yeah, so you're taking the train right? Don't you think they'll see you there?"

"Not sure, but I can't come directly in the car. Too easy to trace. I have to at least try to muddy my trail a little. If someone does come looking for us, I don't want to be found until AFTER the conference."

"But won't it be a little obvious that it was you? Your school uniform is not designed to be inconspicuous. What other school has black and white blazers?"

"I was going to change in the train station, but you do have a point. Someone might notice if a student came in in uniform and changed out of it. It'd be suspicious. I need to change now, before I get to the train station. I wish this taxi was a little bit bigger. I can't get any room in this seat."

She leaned forward punching the audio command button. "Stop here Please!"

"Please state destination."

"There, there. the ...uh..." She read the sign, "The Bull and Hammer."

The car pulled to a stop. "I just need to go in to change."

"That response was not understood."

"Wait for me. I'll be right back."

"Holding a cab requires a fee of one half of the running meter for each..."

"Fine, charge it to the account but just wait for me, all right?"

"This cab is on hold. It will remain on hold for thirty minutes at a rate of."

"Fine," Eliza said as he climbed out of the taxi and slammed the door. She touched the earpiece to turn it back on. "Rece, I gotta go change. I'll call you on the way into London."

"Later then. Off out."

"Off Out."

Eliza rolled up her phone and stuffed it into a small black cylinder. Then she dropped the earpiece into the cylinder before screwing it closed and dropping it into her bag. She pushed open the door to the pub hearing a rough chime. Despite the fact that it was before noon, there seemed to be quite a lot of people drinking, and very little food to be seen. It wasn't like the family style pubs that John and Sherlock had taken her to on her rare trips to visit.

The place was dark, sweaty, and full of drunk people wearing worn jackets and boots. A closer look at the men revealed that they were communication workers, people who pulled cables in the sewers under the city. They had probably just come off of a night shift. She pushed past a group of them who were hanging around a dart board and walked into the ladies lav.

The bathroom was plain white with a flickering fluorescent light over the mirror. She put her phone tube down on the counter and then placed an identical tube next to it. This tube held lipstick, and she had bought it specifically because it would be mistaken for her phone on casual inspection. Mum was adamant that fourteen was too young for makeup. The color on the side read 'tart red'. She opened the tube and slathered the lipstick all around her mouth. Then she reached into the bag and pulled out a bright printed dress.

Eliza took off her blazer and shirt and pulled the dress over her head. Then she wiggled out of her skirt and stuffed the uniform into her bag. She turned back to the mirror to see that the neck of the dress was much too low. The picture on the internet hadn't looked like this, but now that she was wearing it, she could see that it was cut for a much taller woman. The neck of the dress was open to the middle of her chest exposing the edges of her plain white bra. She pulled the collar up and tried to stuff it into her bra, but it didn't work.

She took her dark hair out of the hair band and tried to drape it around her shoulders, but if anything it seemed to draw attention to the bra rather than take away from it. She put on her coat and pulled it around her, but had a low collar and didn't conceal anything. In the end she held it closed with her left hand as she headed for the door holding her bag in her right.

She was walking through the pub with her face down staring down at the floor, when she bumped into something big. She looked up into the ruddy face of a huge blond man. "Hello sweetheart," he said. "You're a cute little thing. Can I buy you a drink?"

"I..uh.." Eliza said suddenly at a loss for words.

"Saw the pretty school girl uniform. Is that your job? Are you a...performer? Because I could use a bit of a performance today if you get my drift."

It took a moment, but eventually Eliza realized what the man had mistaken her for. She stood up straight, her face shocked before realizing that she was pushing out her breasts unconsciously and her bra was showing again. She grabbed the front of her dress with her left hand. "I...uh...I'm expected," she said, and she rushed out through the front door only to find that her taxi was gone.

She looked over her shoulder to see three men, including the one who had chatted her up, standing behind her. "Your client gone, Luv? Did he go without paying? Well, I just got paid, and I wouldn't mind giving you a ride."

The man walked closer reaching his hands out toward her hips. John had shown her a dozen ways to down a man in one thrust, but for the life of her, none of them were popping into her mind. She stared in horror up at the drunken man's face, willing herself to scream, or move, or to do something, but she just stood there like a glowing rabbit in the headlights.

Suddenly, the man fell to the ground. A thin blond woman stood behind him, her foot raised showing her sharp heeled boots. The man on the floor groaned.

"Idiot! can't you see that she's just a child? Keep your hands to yourself." She put her hands on her hips showing off her tight jeans and tailored jacket. "Now go away or I'll make it so you can't have any children of your own. You know I can."

One of the two men behind him raised his hands beside his head while the other pulled his friend up off of the ground. Then they staggered back into the pub. Eliza looked at the woman. She was pretty, in her mid twenties, with curly blond hair a pink coat and tight blue jeans stuffed into those lethal boots. She walked up to Eliza and shook her by the shoulders as she yelled, "What on Earth is a girl like you doing walking into a pub like this anyway? Don't you have school to go to?"

"I...it's the weekend."

"And young girls turn off their brains on the weekend, do they now? What's your name?"

"Eliza, my name is Eliza Holmes."

The blond woman turned toward her and stared into her face a long moment. Then she laughed loud and heartily, "Well met, Eliza! I knew you when you were just a baby."

"How? What? Wait, you couldn't have! You can't be more than twenty five or so. If you knew me as a baby, wouldn't you have had to have been really young?"

"Yes, I was only a girl myself then, but I knew your mother. My name is Ellie Smith, pleased to meet you."


	3. Chapter 3

The woman held out her hand to Eliza who shook it. It was only polite.

"Thank you," Eliza said. "I had a rented car. I told it to wait, but when I got back it was gone."

"That's not surprising," Ellie said. "If you wanted to keep it you should have parked it around the corner and not in front of a pub. You know about the alcohol failsafe don't you?"

"The alcohol failsafe?"

"When auto taxis were first introduced, most people still drove their own cars by hand. There was a problem with people driving while drunk, so they instituted a breath test before ignition if the car was parked in front of a place that sold alcohol, and then they passed a law that if a person was legally intoxicated, the nearest autotaxi had to take them home even if someone else was waiting. By parking that car out in front, you just gave some one a free ride."

"But...will it come back?"

"Not likely."

"Then how will I get to the train station?"

There was a sound behind them and the door to the pub slammed open. The men from before stepped out with a few of their buddies behind them.

"Ah! I see they want a rematch now that they've had a bit of liquid courage. They probably also realized that I am female and might be persuaded to join the fun. Idiots! I do so hate drunk people. Best we get out of here. Come on, Tyke."

She started to walk down an alley and after looking back at the men clustering around the door, Eliza followed her. "Why did you call me tyke? I am not a female dog."

"Just an expression, love. Best walk a little faster. My bike is around the corner."

Eliza looked back to see a group of about six men slowly walking in their direction. The one in front was staggering a bit.

"What are they planning to do?" Eliza asked.

"Nothing, because we're here." Ellie pulled a helmet off of the back of a motorcycle and placed it over her head completely covering her blond hair. Eliza looked back to see that the men beside them had picked up the pace. Ellie threw her leg over the bike and started it up. "Best get on now, love, unless you prefer getting into a fight.

Eliza climbed onto the back of the motorbike and wrapped her hands around Ellie's waist. She roared the engine before moving down the street. The men started to run. Then Ellie turned the bike around to face them and stopped. She drove straight toward them. Eliza could see their shocked faces as they saw her heading straight for them. The men peeled away jumping left and right as she zoomed through them. The big man was slower, probably because he was more drunk than the rest, and he almost didn't get out of the way in time. Ella reached out an arm and clapped him hard on the shoulder as she passed so that he fell down hard on his backside. Then she laughed as they roared down the street.

Some time later they pulled into a parking garage. Ellie led Eliza up an elevator to a small one bedroom flat. It was a mess with a orange couch covered with throw pillows. And clothes all over the floor. There was an old fashioned phone mounted on the wall, but no screens or keyboards anywhere.

Eliza reached into her pocket and pulled out the black tube. She unscrewed it revealing red lipstick. Then started searching her purse frantically.

"My phone! I think I left my phone at the pub. We've got to go back!"

"Go back? Didn't you meet enough drunk men for one day?" Ellie asked as she walked into the tiny kitchen and pulled a glass of of the shelf. She poured herself some water and drank it. "Want something to drink? I can give you a choice of milk, water or beer. Erase that. I can give you a choice of milk or water."

"I really need that phone. There's got to be a way to get it back."

"Tiny, if you left an expensive phone like that in that pub, someone has already sold it by now."

"If I can get online, I can put a trace on it. We can find out where its gone."

"I don't have a connection, Love."

"You don't... what? How can you not be connected to the internet. Everyone is connected."

"Not everyone. That kind of thing is just not in my skill set."

"I don't understand? How can you survive? How did you get through school?"

"We aren't here to talk about my past, love. We're here to talk about what Eliza Holmes, only child of Mycroft and Maddy Holmes, is doing in a dive like the Bull and Hammer on a Friday afternoon.

"Today's a holiday."

"Still doesn't explain the pub."

"I was on my way to the train station to visit a friend when I ... I had to use the bathroom, so I stopped the car at the first place that I could find."

"I see, that explains how you got there. Now explain the lipstick and that dress."

Eliza frowned. "Look, Ellie or whoever you are. What exactly is it that you are planning to do with me now that I'm in your flat?"

"What do you want me to do?"

"I want you to take me to the train station to meet my friend."

"What kind of 'friend' asks you to sneak away from your family and put on clothes like that? I would have to be an idiot to let you go and meet such a 'friend'."

"No, it's nothing like that. This is just a disguise. I was going to meet my girlfriends."

"Do you think women can't be users and exploiters? Have you ever met these 'girlfriends' in person? How do you know that they aren't creeper bots."

"They're not bots. I've known them for years."

"And have you ever met them before?"

"I would know if they weren't human. I'm not stupid."

"I have yet to see evidence of any intelligence being displayed here."

Eliza frowned. "Don't call me stupid. If I had a computer here, I could..."

"Skill and intelligence are not the same thing, Eliza. You may know how to bring down the power in all of London, but that doesn't make you smart enough to realize why that is a phenomenally bad idea."

"You aren't my mother, so you have no call to hold me here."

"I may not be your mother but I know a thing or two about what can happen to little girls who..."

"I'm not a little girl!"

An alarm rang and both Ellie and Eliza turned to look at the display.

"Shit! I'm late for work."

Ellie rushed into the bathroom. Soon there was the sound of running water. Eliza thought of going out of the door, but she decided to examine the room first. She looked at the clock. It was connected to the power and it said that it was connected to the world clock, so it was theoretically possible to get to the internet here if only she could find an interface. She went to the refrigerator. It had a temperature panel and a keypad. She held down the * and 0 keys for five seconds and the maintenance screen came up. Then she dialed an elaborate code and got to a simple terminal. She dialed a number. There was a ring and then she heard a friendly voice.

"What, who is it?"

"Rece, it's Eli."

"Eli, where are you. I've been calling and calling!"

"I lost my phone. I've hot wired a refrigerator to get this line. I'm not sure how long I can talk."

"Oh God! What happened?"

"I got caught. My best plan, and I get caught not thirty minutes out from the school."

"Is it one of your Dad's people?"

"No, my Mum's. Look, I'm going to try to sneak away later. Keep to the plan and I will get there if I can. Off out."

"Off out Eli, and take care."

Eliza closed the connection just as the bathroom door opened. She opened the fridge door and lifted the carton of milk as if she were about to drink it.

"Use a glass!" Ellie said. She was only wearing black underpants and a bra. She searched around on the floor until she found a pair of black trousers. She pulled them on and then pulled a black shirt over her head. Looking around she found a pink jumper and tossed it over to Eliza.

"Put that over that ridiculous dress, and wipe off that lipstick. It is completely the wrong color for your skin. You look like a painted doll."

"I don't understand what's wrong with it? Why are adults such prudes?"

Ellie turned to look at her. "You know, I have never in my life been called a prude. I think I like you, tyke."

"I am not a tyke."

"Come on, I'm going to be late."

Eliza didn't know what to think of the woman who rode a motorbike by hand, fought off drunks and then smiled when she called her a prude. She needed to get somewhere with a better connection is she was going to find a way to get to the hotel, so she followed Ellie down to her bike and they drove away to who knows where.


End file.
